Akagi by Farbror Fartyg - Hasegawa - 1:700 - PLASTIC - as she looked before the 1935 rebuild

[Farbror Fartyg]

AKAGI 1927

 

So here I am, sat at the kitchen table, a bottle of Asahi Super Dry in front of me.

My katana is hanging on the wall - I can't see it from where I'm sitting, but I know it's hanging there ... approvingly.

The only thing missing is a stirring marching tune, blaring from cracked speakers, and the picture would be perfect.

I'm building the IJN Akagi.

 

 

I have no intention of stoking the fires of the silly kit vs. scratch debate, but I almost feel a bit ... disoriented here in the kit department.

The scratch build section is where I usually hang my hat, and my darlings generally have sails and had their keels laid down before 1700.

 

I don't really know what happened. They found the Musashi, and I sat through every minute of the 2,5 hour Expedition Live Feed.

Then it was on to IJN battleships on Wikipedia ...

I suppose the fate of all those lovely ships got to me; the wastefulness of it all. 

The Dai nippon Teikoku Kaigun deserves a bit of resurrecting, albeit in 1/700 scale.

 

The plan is to assemble a little fleet of IJN ships.

We'll see how far I get.

 

Anyways, I picked the Akagi as the first ship because she is a bit of an odd one, with her three flight decks.

An aircraft carrier is also completely new territory for me - thought it might be fun.

 

 

WWII is fairly new to me in modelling/painting terms.

(I've only built Russian tanks and painted Finnish infantry before this project.)

So I'll take any expert advice, cheering on, pointers, source material (English, Japanese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish are all OK) etc. I can get.

 

 

For those interested in the subject, here are some links:

 

http://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=10

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Akagi

 

https://fiftiethstateofmind.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/akgimg_00071.jpg

 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/75/d4/97/75d497ac91cd0121abebeac8459d56d4.jpg

 

 

The Kit

 

 

The kit looks nice and detailed and the instructions seem OK. Although I did find som (mandatory) japlish. 

It's good that the black isn't TOTALLY gross, just semi gross.

 

The kit certainly includes the most minuscule aircraft you'll ever see.

No kids or pets around so I might leave the planes loose.

 

 

Weeelll, the sprues have been washed so, here goes.

 

Sam

[Kevin]

Good luck, I will be following

[Canute]

This looks very interesting, Sam. I'll follow along, also.

[Farbror Fartyg]

I have a very large 1-250 scale kit of this model on my shelf waiting for me to build one day. Good luck with it.

 

1/250 must be absolutely massive!

[RGL]

I've been very tempted to do this in 1/350, looking forward to it

[Farbror Fartyg]

The lower part of the ship is supplied as a bottom plate and two side pieces.

The sides are really long and springy, and bit awkward to work with.

 

To someone building this kit, I would suggest assembling the bottom bit in the following way:

 

Look at the numbers in the photo:

 

 

1. Take the sides and stand them on up on a flat surface and make sure they line up properly. 

Glue them together in that position using just the middle two joining pieces. 

Hold until the glue hardens. Ignore the bottom plate for now. 

 

2. When the glue has hardened, insert the joining piece in the stern (or bow - I don't think it matters) and glue the stern/bow together.

 

3. Repeat the above, nr 2, procedure for the bow/stern.

 

When the sides are securely glued toghether, check to see if the bottom plate fits (I had no problems with it) apply some glue stick it all together.

 

Painting

 

I've reached a stage where there are bits that will have to be painted before Mr. Glue is introduced.

We had a roll-call this morning to see who's still with us and who isn't in paint box.

Managed to assemble a decent collection militay-ish greys, browns and greens.

 

 

I'm not going to go into chemical analysis to get the shade of grey just right, but I would like to at least stay in the ball park as far as colour is concerned.

Any advice here is mucho appreciated.

 

 

cheers!

 

Sam

[Farbror Fartyg]

Well oh well.

 

I reckon something like that is going to work.

 

 

The grey (Tamiya Dark Sea Grey XF-54) is a bit ... off ... but I guess it'll look OK.

I decided to add som subtle shading and highlights - at this tiny scale the eye needs some cues or the detail of the kit might get overlooked.

[Canute]

Sam, here's a site on the Nihon Kaigun; http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm

Different sections for the various classes of ships.

[cog]

Sam,

 

I've got the Musashi (go rin no sho would mean something to you ... considering the shingen on the wall, or is it a true blade ...) waiting for me to start. Some home improvement first though. I'll be looking forward to  see your Akagi take form ...

[Old Collingwood]

Looking very good - I to will follow as I am plastic building at the moment

 

OC.

[src]

Sam,

I am hiding in a corner at work waiting for a surface coat to flash so in am apply the second coat, figured I would sneak A peak and see what is going on at MSW (shhhhh don't tell anybody) I stumble upon this pulling up a chair to watch.

You asked about reference material/books, I don't know how much it will help the build, but if you want to know more than you will ever need to know about IJN flight operations check out Tully/parshel(?) Shatterd Sward.

Sam

[Canute]

I'll second Sam's (src) recommendation. Excellent book. Five stars from me.

[Farbror Fartyg]

You like updates. I like updates. Win Win.

 

I decided to paint the deck below the lowest flight deck up nicely even though it will be practically invisible once said flight deck comes on. 

 

 

Which it has.

 

 

 

"If a job's worth doing, it's worth dy(e)ing for."

 

Sam

[Farbror Fartyg]

I'm trying to decide on a colour for the wooden decks.

Painted me up some colour test.

 

1. (Base - Citadel "Graveyard Earth" highlight Citadel "Desert Yellow")

 

2. (Base - Citadel "Khemri Brown" highlight Citadel "Desert Yellow")

 

 

What do YOU think, ladies and gents?

 

 

Sam

[cog]

Nothing teak-ish ... should it look like one big plank, or multiple smaller planks ...

[src]

Not sure Sam, but I believe the decks were planked width not length?

Sam

[cog]

That is not what I meant. Planks usually run from stem to stern or vice versa, but your wood looks a bit like a single plank for the entire deck. As a plank it looks good, although, as deck it looks strange to me.

[src]

Carl, you are correct about the direction. Sam, link to a picture of the Akagi deck: http://expeditionportal.nauticos.com/ijn-akagi-island-1942/

 

Sam

[popeye the sailor]

hello Sam....what a cool looking build you have here      gee......I've probably done at least one carrier.......larger than than this one though.   perhaps penciling in some lines for the planking, might enhance it a bit......but the one on the right looks good to me.   it does kinda knock it out of scale with the grain though......perhaps blonde veneer with a weathered look might be better.   it's nice to be following one of your builds again  

[Farbror Fartyg]

Thank you all for the input!

It is much appreciated!

 

I should have been clearer about what I meant yesterday, my bad (While I was doing the test strips I suddenly realised that it wasn't Friday, and that I had to get up the next day ...).

 

 

This is how the deck in question, unpainted, looks on the model.

 

 

As you can see, there isn't much that can be done about the direction of the planking, even if the real thing had been planked width-wise. 

 

 

The test strips

They aren't meant to represent single planks! 

Since the planks are modelled on miniature, I figured I'd start by giving the deck a darker base-coat, and then dry-brush with a lighter colour to bring out the individual planks.

THAT'S what I was trying to get across in the test strips - the lighter bands are supposed to be the individual planks, picked out with dry-brushing.

I see now how no one in the entire universe would understand that from looking at the photos ... not one of my brightest art moments ...

 

 

Colour:

 

Yeah, I know the real thing had teak decks.

And that teak is often a more reddish brown sort of colour.

 

The thing is, I did some nosing around on Google, looking for pics of aircraft carrier decks, and teak decks in general, and to my eye many of them look a sort of sandy brown.

The painting guide for this model, and others, also suggest using "Tan" for the wooden decks. There are slight variations, but the colour is light, sandy brown.

 

That said, people perceive colour differently.

 

I'm also looking for something that will work in the scale in question - how will the deck look on a ship seen from afar. 

 

 

And Sam, thanks for the tip!

Shattered Sword  definitely looks like a book I might enjoy reading.

Added to wish list!

Edited September 7, 2016 by Farbror Fartyg

[cog]

The Test Strips

Art is a pain in the hiney. I know, my father was a dress designer, I've followed art school, and I still can't get across what I want  ...

 

Colour

(Finaly someone who knows how to write the word ) Maybe try a light underground, and dry-brush a reddish (teak) colour on top. Define the planks by drawing a dark line, to represent the seam between them ...

 

Painting guids are what they are GUIDES. Teak isn't sandy brown, it is reddish brown and if not maintained with oil, it turns brownish grey

 

An established deck in teak, looked at from afar .................. grey-ish I would presume

 

Beat you to the the book bought it from a seller in Germany

 

Doitashimashte, Fartyg-san

Edited September 7, 2016 by cog

[Farbror Fartyg]

The Test Strips

Art is a pain in the hiney. I know, my father was a dress designer, I've followed art school, and I still can't get across what I want  ...

 

Colour

(Finaly someone who knows how to write the word ) Maybe try a light underground, and dry-brush a reddish (teak) colour on top. Define the planks by drawing a dark line, to represent the seam between them ...

 

 

 

Since you mentioned art (yes, a mention is enough), you probably realise that the statement "There are no true colours." is the beginning of a slippery slope that descends into realms upon realms of wild eyed, cheese munching insanity ...

 

Your painting suggestion is a good one. I'll do some tests.

 

 

Better man those coastal defences!

There are people who WILL go to war over the spelling of the "C"-word.

 

 

Sam

[cog]

Being Dutch with the risk of turning into a double Dutch corrupted mind, as a cheese head I should know ... there are no true colours ... having said that, there are primary colours from which we can derive all colours we can imagine ...

 

Discouragement is all the defence you need ... turn your opponents power onto him-/herself (aikido)

[RGL]

Looking at the collection of paints you have in the background, I reckon you know what you're doing.

 

30cm at 1/700 is massive, I've seen some of the detail kits for this ship at 1/350 and it's very complex so you've got some work ahead of you.

[src]

Sam,

It looks like they got the planking right. i see now what you are doing colOr wise. (Who ever heard of a U in color? )

 

Watch out for Carl when he starts talking about Aikido, the last time I discussed it with him my back went out.....

 

Sam

[Farbror Fartyg]

After some painting, some thinking, and then some more painting and thinking, the Akagi has a planked lower flight deck.

 

 

The deck has received several washes and dry brushes, using slightly different tones of woody brown.

It turned out a tad darker than in my original vision, but I'm quite pleased with the result nonetheless. 

When viewed from a distance, all the different washes/dry brushes come together in a way that kinda mimics the way a deck is made up of planks with slightly different tones (due to natural differences in the wood, wear etc.)

It has proven completely impossible, at least with my photographic equipment, to do the effect justice in photos ... but it's there ... trust me. 

(or maybe I'm all nicely bundled up in the local loony bin, on medication, imagining everything.)

 

Turrets

 

I wanted movable turrets (who doesn't?).

showing how I went about it will allow me to introduce one of my secret weapons, meet Mr. Guitar String Drill:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cog]

Love that deck, it looks 1,000% percent better than the first alternative .... great work

Edited September 14, 2016 by cog

[CDW]

Totally agree about the deck and its color. it looks superb!

[CDW]

I have some very nice 1:700 scale ship models with full detail sets sitting in my closet. Looking them over, each time I think I might build one, I get scared away by the extreme small scale. One of these days I am going to get started on one even if I screw it up.

[Farbror Fartyg]

I have some very nice 1:700 scale ship models with full detail sets sitting in my closet. Looking them over, each time I think I might build one, I get scared away by the extreme small scale. One of these days I am going to get started on one even if I screw it up.

 

For me it's the other way around. I come from a 1:72 - 1:48 war gaming background so I'm used to tiny soldiers and tanks.

I get intimidated by some of the humongous builds you see here, and the big kits in the hobby stores!

A bit like moving from frying hot dogs to four course dinner ...

 

Build those kits - you won't regret it.

Oh, and post 'em.

 

 

Sam